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" Mass murderers,
evil despots, producers of bad pop star movies, all the evil folk...They all
get their own time share of doom! "

&nbsp Title: Ravenloft Campaign Setting by Sword
and Sorcery

&nbsp Format: Gothic Horror Table Top Role Playing

&nbsp Reviewing Monkey: Chimpan-A

&nbsp The Hype: Remember Ravenloft? The land
of the damned for the D&D universe, a misty domain, drawing evildoers from about
the cosmos. Well Sword & Sorcery have picked it up and updated it for 3rd edition,
d20 rules. Now the tales of horror and dread can begin again. You can begin
by dreading this review…

&nbsp What This Monkey Thought...

&nbsp Story and Drama: Over 700 years ago, Count
Strahd von Zarovich was committed an act of utter evil. It was not his first
and it won't be his last. In response, dark powers pulled him and his land into
another plane. Creating the place known as Ravenloft, where the damned dwell
to this day. Don't you just hate it when that happens? Since that time, many
souls have joined the doomed count in Ravenloft, many domains have opened their
doors, and the people go about their lives. Horror looms about the corner for
those few brave souls willing to risk life and limb to adventure in this land.
Essentially every domain has a ruler, and each ruler has his story. Some of
those stories have changed since the last time we saw a Ravenloft supplement.
The designers did however look to the books, and used them to design the further
history of the dread realm. The only real beef I have with the story of Ravenloft
is the lord of Sithicus, my all time favorite dread knight was replaced due
to legal battles. Aside from that the stories and drama are appropriately epic
and gothic. 5 out of 5

&nbsp Layout and Presentation: The book is laid
out quite well. Anyone familiar with White Wolf books should recognize a few
things. They explain the timeline, explain character class differences, and
continue through game rule information. The book goes through all of the domains
in the realm (domains are like countries). It finishes off with some good tips
for playing or DMing. The artwork is fine, with both good and bad examples.
All together it comes off fairly well. 4.5 out of 5

&nbsp Playability: For those who don't know
how Ravenloft works, here's the low down. Essentially the "dark powers" (that's
all the name we get, they're supposed to be mysterious) reach out into other
dimensions and capture evildoers. Mass murderers, evil despots, producers of
bad pop star movies, all the evil folk. They take them in, and if they're evil
enough, give them their own time-share… OF DOOM! The reason this is great is
because bystanders sometimes get drawn into the fray as well. That means that
no matter where your players are, they can always be caught up into a Ravenloft
campaign. Making it one of the more easily playable worlds for an established
group. Rules-wise, the game plays just like D&D, with the addition of Fear,
Horror, and Madness checks. These checks are to help with the horror part of
the Gothic Horror feel. They're basically just saving throws and don't complicate
things any. A few additional things are added in; differences in civilizations,
and outcast ratings to represent the xenophobia of the native folk. None of
the additions are complicated, and can actually enhance role-play. It's essentially
just as playable as D&D 3rd edition. 4 out of 5

&nbsp Desired Content: As with all D20 games,
you'll need the D&D player's guide, so make sure you have it or you won't
be able to make characters. Otherwise, this book has everything a D&D group
needs to start playing Ravenloft. All of the minor differences between playing
a normal world and playing in the dread realm are detailed within. Plenty of
information (for the players anyway) can be found on all of the domains in the
land. The DM will have to look to the Secrets of the Dread Realm for more information
on the Darklords, but that is as it should be. This book has what's needed;
it's just not a starter book. 4 out of 5

&nbsp The Verdict:

If you remember the coolness that
was Ravenloft, get this book. They've done a great job bringing everything
up to date. For those of you who don't know Ravenloft, but want to spice
up your D&D games with some gothic horror, come get some. For those of
you interested in neither D&D, nor Horror… why the hell are you reading
this review?

&nbsp The Good: Easily playable gothic horror.

&nbsp The Bad: Yet another D20 book.

&nbsp The Overall Ugly: NO MORE SOTH!? Stupid
copyright laws. Good game world, I recommend it highly